July 22, 2012

Monsanto to invest US$365 million in Argentine corn factory

An investment of US$365 million will be put in by Monsanto to a corn seed factory in Argentina's central city of Cordoba, the local government announced Tuesday (July 17).

Argentina is the world's second largest producer of corn and Monsanto will consecrate US$329 million of its overall investment to the factory, the rest going to "two new experimental facilities" in Cordoba and Tucuman province.

The new factory is scheduled to open in 2013 and produce enough seed to sow 8.65 million acres of fields, an area 1.7 times the size of Wales or almost nine times the size of the state of Rhode Island.

After the plant is complete, Argentina will boast the two largest factories for seed production in the world, Monsanto reported.